Aztecs begin tourney with rout of Northern Colorado

Video

Tucson, AZ (Sports Network) - Kawhi Leonard had 21 points and 10 rebounds, as
San Diego State took down Northern Colorado, 68-50, in second-round play of
the NCAA Tournament.

Chase Tapley had 14 points, Billy White added 12 points and 13 rebounds, and
James Rahon donated 12 points for the Aztecs (33-2), who won a game in this
tournament for the first time in school history. They failed in their previous
six appearances.

"Feels good not only to be here, but to win and to advance," said San Diego
State head coach Steve Fisher. "Well documented this is our first NCAA post-
season win. Our players don't care about that. They've only been a part of one
other and they like this a whole lot better than a year ago."

San Diego State, seeded second in the West Region, will next face Temple on
Saturday. The seventh-seeded Owls defeated Penn State earlier Thursday.

The Aztecs began the season with a 20-game winning streak and defeated BYU --
which had beaten San Diego State twice in the regular season -- in the
Mountain West Conference Tournament title game.

Devon Beitzel posted a game-high 25 points and Chris Kaba added 10 points and
six rebounds for the Bears (21-11), who were making their first appearance in
the tournament.

"Can't fault our guys' effort," said Northern Colorado head coach B.J. Hill.
"I thought they played extremely hard. Thought we followed the game plan for
about 34 minutes tonight. Hat's off to San Diego State. They're even better in
person than what they are on video."

Northern Colorado, which had the 15th seed, won the Big Sky Tournament to
secure its berth.

The Aztecs carried a six-point lead into halftime and continued to play in
front in the second half, but Beitzel hit a layup and followed with a three-
pointer to cut the Bears' deficit to 35-32 four minutes in.

However, back-to-back three-pointers from D.J. Gay and Rahon started a 13-0
run that put San Diego State up 51-35. White's layup with eight minutes
left capped the decisive rally, which allowed the Aztecs to lead by double-
digits the rest of the way.

Northern Colorado took its only lead of the game 6 1/2 minutes in, on a Taylor
Montgomery slam that made it 12-11, but Tapley followed with a jumper to start
a 9-2 run that gave the Aztecs a 20-14 advantage with seven minutes left.

The Bears then rallied to tie the game, but San Diego State scored the
following 10 points and eventually took a 30-24 lead into the break.

Game Notes

Montgomery finished with 12 rebounds...The Aztecs have won six of their seven
games against the Bears all-time...San Diego State shot 41 percent and grabbed
45 rebounds, compared to 34 percent shooting and 33 rebounds for Northern
Colorado.